A domestic abuse specialist from Cornwall Council was invited to share the stage with the Home Secretary and Domestic Abuse Commissioner (DAC) at the launch of a new national report.
Jessica Tangye, Implementation Lead for the Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence team, gave a speech advocating Cornwall’s approach to learning from Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews (DARDRs), formerly known as Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs).
The invitation came after the council-led Safer Cornwall Partnership was chosen as one of 11 Community Safety Partnerships nationwide to take part in a 2024 pilot looking at how learnings from DARDRs can be turned into action.
The results informed the final DAC report, called Learning From Loss, which lists key recommendations to help prevent future deaths.
A DARDR is a review into the circumstances surrounding a death that is related to domestic abuse. This now includes deaths by suicide where domestic abuse is known to have taken place.
Between April 2023 and March 2024, there were 108 domestic homicides in England and Wales, which equates to a quarter of all homicides during this period. This figure has remained largely unchanged in the last 10 years.
In Cornwall there are 13 DARDRs currently in progress with a further six due to be commissioned. A total of 14 DHRs have been published on the Safer Cornwall website - Most Recent Domestic Homicide Reviews - Safer Cornwall
The launch event for the Learning From Loss report took place at Church House in Westminster, London, on July 15.
In her speech, Jessica, who specialises in DARDRs and implementing learnings from the reports, said:
“It’s a privilege to speak today about a matter that touches the heart of our communities - how we learn from tragedy to prevent future harm. Domestic Homicide Reviews, or DHRs, are not just procedural exercises. They are compassionate, human-centred reflections that bring together police, health services, social care, voluntary organisations, and commissioned services to understand what went wrong - and more importantly, how we can make it right.
“In Cornwall, DHRs have been instrumental in shifting professional attitudes, especially around coercive control, risk assessment, and victim engagement. They’ve led to tangible changes—new protocols, improved safeguarding, and training that reflects the lived experiences of victims.”
Some of the initiatives in Cornwall that have stemmed from DHRs include:
- Working with Women’s Centre Cornwall to support domestic abuse victims whose first language isn’t English.
- A project to support older victims of domestic abuse – a generational issue that often goes unreported and unrecognised.
- A GP referral scheme that sees domestic abuse specialists embedded in the primary care system to identify and support victims.
Jessica, who spoke after the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales and directly before Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, said she had been surprised by the reaction to her speech.
She said: “I was definitely nervous representing Cornwall on a national stage like that but it was important to me to showcase the work that goes on here and our role in the creation of such an important report.
“I was surprised and shocked at the reaction to my speech to be honest. I’d written this piece that I thought was fairly straightforward advocating our approach in Cornwall and people were coming up to me afterwards to say how moved they were. It was humbling to know my words had had an impact but it also made me very proud of the work we are doing in Cornwall.”
Cllr Thalia Marrington, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Public Health at Cornwall Council, said:
“Every life lost to domestic abuse, whether taken in a homicide or a death by suicide, is a tragedy that continues to devastate our families and communities. This is why the Learning From Loss report is so important – it’s vital that we learn from every one of these domestic homicide reviews, and listen to victims’ families, friends and colleagues, to prevent future deaths.
“I am immensely proud of the work carried out by Safer Cornwall and our Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence team and I would like to congratulate Jessica for representing Cornwall with such eloquence and passion on such an important stage.”
Support is available for anyone affected by domestic abuse. For more information about how to get help visit the Safer Cornwall webpage: Domestic abuse and sexual violence - Safer Cornwall
You can read the Learning From Loss report here.